Got a Bad Habit? 5 Ways Technology can Help

Everyone has a bad habit or two. Maybe it’s something relatively benign, like biting your nails. Or maybe it’s something a little more harmful to your health or the health and safety of others, like texting while driving or smoking cigarettes. Either way, kicking a long-held habit takes discipline — something that’s sometimes in short supply.

That’s where technology comes in. No longer do you have to try to stop your worst habits through sheer willpower. With today’s technological advances, even the toughest habits can be broken and often in much less time than doing it on your own.

Quit Smoking With Electronic Cigarettes

You know that smoking cigarettes isn’t exactly healthy for you, and that second-hand smoke is potentially harmful to others. Maybe you want to quit (or you’ve tried to quit), but the withdrawal symptoms seem almost as bad as smoking itself.

If you aren’t ready to give up of smoking or the nicotine just yet, electronic cigarettes might be the answer.

Instead of inhaling the toxic carcinogens present in tobacco smoke, electronic cigarettes allow you to inhale nicotine vapors via an atomizer, giving you the physical sensations of smoking plus the benefits of nicotine without any of the other chemicals.

Healthy Behavior Applications

Study after study has proven that those who keep track of their diet and exercise have a higher rate of success in meeting their goals than those who don’t monitor their own progress.

To make the process easier, there are dozens of applications for almost any device designed to help you stay on track, from food diaries to calorie calculators to apps that guide your workouts.

Best of all, many of these apps help you develop strategies for meeting your goals, and tell you exactly what you need to do and when.

Internet Timers and Blockers

You’re on a deadline, trying to finish an important project. But your social media accounts are calling your name and instead of getting the work done, you’re desperately trying to get to the next level of Candy Crush.

Or maybe your spouse or significant other is complaining about your Internet use, claiming that you spend more time on the discussion boards for your favorite comic series than spending time with him or her.

Excessive Internet use — or using the Internet when we’re supposed to be doing other things — is a growing problem, and in some cases, going online can even be an addiction. If you are trying to break your bad habits, consider using one of the online focus boosters or site blockers to keep you on track.

Each service works differently; some block your access to the sites you specify (like Facebook) until a certain time, while others disable your Web access after a certain amount of time. Either way, such a program can help keep you on track and help you kick your online addiction.

Drive Safer

The consequences of distracted or poor driving can be deadly or at the very least, expensive. There are a number of devices and applications designed to keep us safer behind the wheel and break the bad habits that endanger ourselves, others and our wallets. Got a lead foot? Consider using a device that tracks your driving habits, including speed, braking and acceleration.

While these devices can’t slow you down, seeing on paper how routinely exceeding the speed limit is affecting your fuel bill might slow you down. If you find yourself texting from behind the wheel, install an app that will use your phone’s GPS to determine whether you’re in motion and block your ability to send messages when you are.

No More Drinking and Texting

Do you have a tendency to have one too many at the bar and then send e-mails or texts that you later regret? It’s happened to almost everyone, and whether you send an unintended declaration of love or something a little less friendly, your drinking and texting habit can be embarrassing or even detrimental to your relationships and career.

If you know you do this, install an app that you can enable at the beginning of the night and that will block access to your contacts or force you to solve a simple math problem before you can send a message.

Breaking any bad habit requires a certain amount of willpower and commitment, but there is nothing wrong with using technology to help you along the way. With so many temptations and opportunities to slip up, it’s good to know that you can get help when you need it and have a better chance of meeting your goals.

About the Author: After smoking for more than a decade, Cassie Colby used White Cloud electronic cigarettes to help kick the habit, and she feels better than ever.

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